“Federal continues to position itself as a trusted supplier for the U.S. Military and Special Operations,” said Peter Gillette, Federal’s Director of International LE & Military Sales. “We are excited for this contract win. It validates the quality of our products, thoroughness of our testing procedures, and dedication to hard work from our American factory workers.”

The cartridge selected during the two-year contract term is the Mk316 Mod 0, 7.62x51mm, 175-grain precision match rifle load.The ordering period is for a total of two years. The ammunition will be produced by Federal at the Anoka, Minnesota facility.

“In general, our match ammunition has a legendary reputation for extreme accuracy, shot after shot, lot to lot. It is trusted time-and-time-again by police and military marksmen,” continued Gillette. “MK316 Mod 0 fits in perfectly with Federal’s history of producing extremely accurate ammunition held to tight tolerances required by strict U.S. Military specifications.”

Federal ammunition can be found nationwide and online. For more information on all products from Federal, visitwww.federalpremium.com.

“We are proud to provide the highest quality duty ammunition to CBP officers charged with the monumental task of border security,” said Federal Ammunition President and CEO Jason Vanderbrink. “We know they require the best ammunition in their mission to protect our borders and keep the homeland safe. This large duty contract win solidifies Federal Ammunition as a top choice for law enforcement.”

The cartridge selected was the Tactical Bonded 64-grain soft point. This single-award, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract is a Strategically Sourced contract for all DHS components with a maximum quantity of 143 million rounds. The ordering period is for a total of five years.

“Federal’s Tactical Bonded line is a trusted partner for some of the most intense conditions,” said VP of Law Enforcement Sales Dave Leis. “Made exclusively for law enforcement and at our Anoka, MN headquarters, it achieves accuracy and terminal performance that defeats tough barriers with minimal change to its superior performance attributes.”

The term Next Generation can mean a lot of things. I recently wrote an article on U.S. Army Next Generation 40mm Day/Night Thermal training ammunition technology. The results are still “to be determined.” I took a hard look at some Next Generation weapons and ammunition in this article. What happens when Next Generation weapons and ammo collide?

Maxim Defense continues to impress with its Next Generation focus and out-of-the-box thinking. Maxim Defense’s short-barreled rifle (SBR) designs are impressive and enthralling enough to be selected by SOCOM for further evaluations. Its success with the U.S. government has carried over to the commercial market with personal defense weapons (PDWs). Commercially, the weapons also have gained a following in the personal defensive arena and in the concealed weapon subcategory of untold possibilities.

I first got my hands on one of these weapons at the 2019 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC). Ammunition and guns are in surprisingly short supply at SOFIC, as the focus is much more on electronics. I was drawn like a moth to the flame.

The weapons are as visually impressive as they are physically stout and well-engineered. The construction is remarkable; some AR platform weapons feel flimsy. The Maxim rifles remind me of HK weapons. The 18.75-inch weapon overall length is impressive, and the punch packed by these weapons blows pistols out of the water. The 5.5-inch barrel length is also amazing. If you add in the massive increase in accuracy over a pistol and the potential magazine capacity, I imagine that many private security forces are in line to grab these SBRs and re-arm their teams.

What About the Ammo?

Defensive pistol ammunition is numerous and widespread. Defensive rifle ammunition, not so much. All the major ammunition producers have versions of defensive pistol ammunition, and the number of niche producers is also a mile long. Many designs go beyond the typical hollow-point designs. There have been more niche designs going back over the last 40-plus years than I can remember. Who remembers the big left-wing hysteria concerning the Black Talon bullets back in the early 1990s? More recently, G2 Research Ammunitions’ fragmenting solid bullets were a big item and huge YouTube sensation. Maxim Defense knew that the weapons needed special rifle ammunition to pair with these very special rifles. The company could have gone with one of the usual suspect bullets in rifle calibers. Instead, Maxim went a whole new direction. In retrospect, it seems only logical that a Next Generation defensive rifle would have its personalized Next Generation defensive ammunition.

Maxim has a truly innovative rifle ammunition product that works superbly in these SBRs. Specialized weapons need specialized ammunition to fully capitalize on the performance limitations of lower velocities with short barrels. The Maxim Defense team saw that if customers did not use the proper ammunition, the effectiveness of the weapons would be massively diminished. To complete Maxim’s total weapon system, the ammunition needed to be the Next Generation to maximize the performance needs exactly specified and to be available to the customers. There are some potential solutions in the marketplace; however, consistent access to the customer is always difficult with niche products. Just as high-performance engines will barely work on low-octane gas, these SBRs need high octane ammo, and Maxim took charge of the situation.

TUI® Projectiles

Fort Scott Munitions™ (FSM®) and Maxim Defense worked together on a 6.5CM project for the U.S. government. Upon starting this relationship, Maxim Defense approached FSM to build and optimize a full-ammo solution for the SBR in critically short-barrel lengths for the PDX and MDX Weapon Lines. Six separate ammo variants were designed and optimized; FSM is Maxim Defense’s Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

It was not enough to just take one of the top defensive rifle bullets and load it. Maxim Defense knew that the FSM had developed something special with their Tumble Upon Impact™ (TUI®) projectiles. The TUI projectiles are patented Next Generation technology, just like the Maxim rifles. These TUI projectiles increase the effectiveness of Maxim’s weapon system and accomplish impressive terminal ballistic cavities without substantial fragmentation all the way down to minimal velocities and/or until they become unstable.

The impressive part of the TUI projectiles is that they have a solid tip without any flutes/grooves/slots or other special effects that might impede the successful feeding, firing and cycling out of the weapon. These will hold up and function in extreme environments. They surpass the criteria of both expanding and fragmenting projectiles in ballistic gel. These designs and features are only more critical in rifle calibers. Maxim has successfully achieved a winning combination of weapon and ammunition.

These solid copper projectiles appear to maintain extremely high percentages of their initial weight in the pistol ammunition. Many tests indicate 100% retention through ballistic gels. This ensures greater energy transfer, consistency in performance and devastating wound channels. Monolithic solids are great for not having a jacket to separate from the core, which is also very important in close-combat situations where the fragments can be a hazard to the shooter. The projectile stays together in one piece, causes significant damage and gives more knockdown power. The testing for the rifle ammunition appears to have very similar results to the pistol ammunition.

The short barrel ammunition comes in three calibers and six total varieties:

The projectiles being made out of 100% copper also add a nice element of being lead-free. This is ideal for the close-combat training scenarios in which this product will be used. This also opens up use in lead-restricted ranges and states around the country. All the ammo is Match Grade.

After some R&D, FSM recalled the old 5.56mm M855 round that sometimes accidentally tumbled or keyholed. This failure was a huge problem for the M855. However, a tumbling defensive bullet could offer some impressive performance if done right. What if they could make this happen on purpose and with 100% consistency? This would make for some very effective defensive ammunition. They started working on the concept and came up with two patents.

Considerations

Some elements must be considered: First, it is not a traditional FMJ, and it only tumbles on water-based solutions (i.e., water jugs, ballistic gelatin). If it is fired into a wood 2×4, metal, drywall or vehicle windshield, it will not tumble—period. However, for their key customer and the defensive ammo market, these were acceptable parameters.

The energy released because of the tumble is impressive. This is because of multiple elements. First, the bullets have 100% weight retention. With no loss of mass from fragments shedding, the energy is retained. Second, in ballistic gelatin, the projectile will tumble and then briefly stabilize and stay on its trajectory. Then, it will start to tumble for a bit and then track straight again. FSM noted, “Typically, the projectile will get two to three ‘tumble then brief stabilization’ cycles in a 6x6x16-inch-long ballistic gelatin block.” Impressive.

TUI comes in two different materials. The first is solid brass, and the second is copper. The brass version is called “solid brass spun” or SBS. The copper version is similarly “solid copper spun” or SCS. FSM also has a full line of brass projectiles in pistol calibers (.45, 9mm, .40 S&W, 10mm, .380, .357 SIG) that are only LE/military.

The product is well-designed and versatile. It is not a one-trick pony. Ultimate versatility is an objective FSM strived to achieve with the TUI ammunition. They believe the TUI ammo is a great military or law enforcement round. It checks all the boxes: it goes through the barrier, has great accuracy and has an excellent performance in ballistic gel. However, with the same ammunition, you can also go hunting for coyote and even buffalo. Better yet, it has great long-range utility. An FSM employee recently used his 6.5 Creedmoor, 123-grain, TUI factory-boxed ammunition to take a deer at 100 yards (and dropped him cold), and the same round is capable of a distance of 1.39 miles (2,446.4 yards) to hit a 30-inch target twice on a string of 10 with a factory Ruger Precision Rifle (see YouTube video at Longshot Video). Yes, the TUI projectile is still stable out at that distance, despite tumbling in ballistic gelatin. TUI is the complete package—self-defense, hunting and long-range performance.

A key aspect of the ammunition is that there is no mechanical feature to rely on, nothing to fail. So many of the other high-performance bullets are counting on the consistency of the tooling and keeping a close eye on tooling wear and performance. Of course, this means that the bullets made on fresh tooling are going to perform slightly differently than the last rounds before a tool change. I am aware that some of these performance bullets could require tool change in as little as 5,000 to 10,000 rounds manufactured. This all happens on a multi-station transfer press that is running at 60 parts per minute—no small task.

I queried on what feature of the bullet and the bullet design is critical. The answer is not just one thing. It is everything—the tip, the ogive and the boat tail. It can take strenuous testing and a lot of time to develop a single round. It took 1 year to develop the .300 Blackout 190 subsonic. It is one of the few truly subsonic rounds at +/- 950 to 960 fps. It will also function without a suppressor on the Maxim Defense SBR weapons.

Superior Weapon System

Maxim Defense produces high-quality firearms that enhance their ammo and make it perform well. The quality of FSM’s ammo and the weapons mesh so well, they result in an overall superior weapon system. I suspect that both Maxim Defense and Fort Scott Munitions are going to be long-term players in the market.

So, what happens when Next Generation weapons and ammo collide? Nothing short of awesome.

Manufacturers are zealous to recover their research, development and manufacturing investments. Firearms manufacturing and retailer sales are all about profit, while government program managers who make the big number buys are eager to score a win for their particular program as a matter of job security. In the end, it comes down to a hit or miss for the consumer and even that depends upon how technically savvy the individual consumer may be. How then is one supposed to decide?

Ammunition performance testing takes many forms as does its data analysis. Formal operational testing (OT), based on a formal operational test plan (search OPTEVFOR), is an objective means by which operational testing performance can be achieved. Its resulting data can be validated and analyzed without subjective bias. OT requires that a formal operational test plan is strictly followed, and that presents both a problematic and expensive process for ammunition and firearms developers. The default is to provide a selected military or law enforcement unit(s) the opportunity to “shoot” a particular new weapon and/or ammunition. Based upon their subjective feedback of that particular experience, the product is deemed “tested.” Thus, glowing product praise is routinely assigned, no matter how objectively unqualified it might be, and everyone in the consumer community largely accepts the product as tried, tested and proven.

But history offers more insight. The Cold War led to small arms procurement primarily focused on NATO interoperability, and the 5.56 NATO-firing AR platform became the assault rifle mainstay. As a result of our wars in Southeast Asia and the Middle East spanning the past 60 years, attention has been given to the war-fighting adequacy of the U.S. military’s current in-service arsenal of small arms and ammunition.

Much of today’s ammunition hype revolves around “new” rounds like the 6.5mm Creedmoor and the 6.8mm Remington SPC (Special Purpose Cartridge). In reality, there is nothing new about either except for the substitution of caliber designation with a millimeter designation and a slightly altered cartridge case and load. For example, the 6.5mm uses the same bullet as the .264 Winchester Magnum (.264 WinMag), and the 6.8mm uses the same bullet as the .270 Winchester. Both the.264 WinMag and the .270 Winchester have been available off-the-shelf for half a century.

What is the difference between the comparable legacy calibers and the “new” rounds? The answer is not a whole lot that matters. Felt recoil between the same caliber and corresponding millimeter cartridges is comparable and so is the projectile’s delivered energy on target using comparable loads. Accuracy claims are always an amalgamation consisting of a number of factors contributing to operational performance, but there are two fundamental elements that can be used to interpolate a round’s effectiveness—projectile weight (mass) and velocity. Projectile shape is also a contributing factor to ballistic flight characteristics. For example, each bullet diameter (caliber) has an individual “ideal” length to diameter, to shape, to weight ratio that provides its best ballistic trajectory (stable flight and range) at a given velocity (faster is not necessarily more accurate). That “ideal” formula is well understood and generally followed by ammunition manufacturers; although there is some really ridiculous ammunition available that has absolutely zero operational purpose other than it’s “cool looking.”

Another accuracy factor is barrel quality (material construction and machining accuracy) and barrel life expectancy. For the purpose of comparative example, a rifle or machine gun chambered in 7.62 NATO has an average barrel life of between 5,000 and 8,000 rounds. The same rifle or machine gun chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor has an average barrel life of only 1,200 to 1,500 rounds. The Creedmoor’s significantly reduced lifespan is the result of its higher velocity’s wear and tear on the gun’s bore. And the answer is “YES” to the question you’re probably thinking: Can’t the gun barrel be manufactured from a stronger alloy that resists wear? The problem is the cost of using exotic materials.

Comparatively, the combat-proven 7.62 NATO round (.308 Winchester) generally performs better all around than either the .264 or the .270, with recognition that the counterargument to this falls into niche categories outside general use. Additionally, the 7.62 NATO cartridge is available in a wider range of bullet weights, shapes and off-the-shelf loads. Therefore, replacing the 7.62 NATO round with either the 6.5mm or 6.8mm round for general service use has questionable operational advantage or a clear return on investment (ROI).

In a weight reduction effort, the feasibility of caseless ammunition, polymer-cased ammunition and a hybrid metal-based with polymer-cased upper cartridge was explored as a weight and cost reduction solution several decades ago. None of these were proven to be operationally suitable, combat reliable or cost-effective, and, therefore, none were adopted.

Caseless ammunition made its way into the U.S. Army’s Advanced Combat Rifle Program, but caseless ammunition was little more than a flash in the ammunition pan when the Army cancelled the program because of reliability issues and the ammo’s lack of interoperability with all other conventional rifles and pistols. However, it did help pave the way to Textron’s development of Cased-Telescoped Ammunition (CTA) for use in uniquely designed small arms that fire it.

With that as the segue, we will briefly examine new ammunition offerings available today and on the horizon. Some make sense, and some are plainly pushing the envelope of sound operational logic, not to mention return on investment—you be the judge.

Cased-Telescoped Ammunition (CTA)

In partnership with Heckler and Koch (HK) and Winchester, Textron has developed the next generation of CTA (with a focus on the 6.8mm projectile). Winchester–Olin is manufacturing the CTA while HK has designed the special magazine and belt-fed, gas-operated CTA weapons suite and will produce these specialized guns in conjunction with Textron. This has become known as the Cased-Telescoped Small Arms Systems (CTSAS) program.

What exactly is CTA? It’s a very curious-looking ammunition design that doesn’t track with any conventional ammunition shape. The CTA cartridge looks like a polymer tube about 1 ½ inches long and ½ inch in diameter. On the breech end it has a conventional primer in its center. On the muzzle end it has what looks like a second smaller tube inserted inside the larger outer tube. The smaller tube carries a 6.8mm bullet inside (by the way, this cartridge is fully scalable to larger calibers).

Here’s how it works. The gun’s firing pin strikes the primer, igniting the compacted smokeless powder propellant contained in the main tube body. As the gas pressure increases, the inside tube, holding the conventional 6.8mm round, extends forward, telescoping into the gun’s chamber, creating the necessary gas check (seal). As combustion pressure rapidly develops inside the cartridge case, the round (6.8mm bullet) releases from its telescoped tube (similar to the bullet leaving a conventional metallic cartridge case’s neck) and begins its transit down the gun’s rifled bore spinning into stable ballistic flight, just like any other conventionally fired bullet. The important point here is that a comparable conventional load with comparable bullet will perform the same throughout its ballistic flight downrange.

There are some advantages to cased-telescoped ammunition. Round for round, CTA is about 40% lighter than metallic cased ammunition. In addition, the CTA rounds use compacted propellant, which has better burn characteristics so it requires less case volume compared to conventional, loosely filled cartridge case propellant. This means CTA is approximately 12% the volume of similar caliber metallic cased ammunition, so it’s lighter and takes less overall space.

CTA ballistics, as mentioned previously, are comparable to conventional ammunition of the same caliber and bullet weight. CTA advertises improved accuracy, but that is scientifically questionable. Accuracy is the sum total of multiple variables such as the gun barrel quality, twist, caliber, bullet weight, balance and aerodynamic shape, velocity, gun sights being used, environmental conditions, shooter’s ability and so on, not the ammunition and/or gun alone.

CTSAS guns are about 20% lighter overall. For example, the 6.8mm CTA-firing machine gun variant weighs in at 14.5 pounds, compared to the Army’s current 21.8-pound M240L lightweight (7.62 NATO) machine gun. Additionally, because CTA ammunition telescopes, the CTSAS machine gun’s chamber is separated from the barrel; therefore lowering the risk of “cook off” during periods of sustained automatic fire. This claim may be true, but there is questionable thermodynamics involved for heat dissipation.

Conventional metallic ammunition extracts about 60% of the combustion-generated heat with each spent cartridge. The remaining 40% sinks into the gun barrel and receiver. That’s why guns get hot when they’re fired rapidly. Polymer (CTA) ammunition doesn’t carry (sink) heat; so how is the heat from propellant combustion managed and dissipated from the gun? Unquestionably, there is heat generated by propellant combustion, and that heat must go somewhere. Textron claims less heat is generated by its compacted propellant, but currently provides no clear explanation within the known Law of Thermodynamics that accounts for the dissipation of heat from sustained automatic fire.

There are additional legal and treaty issues needing resolution by Textron and (mostly) Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, before CTSAS can be adopted into general service use by U.S. forces. CTA requires a special family of cased-telescoped weapons to fire it. Conventional weapons cannot be converted to fire CTA and vice versa. That means neither the ammunition nor the CTSAS weapons are NATO-interoperable and therefore fall outside the NATO STANAG requiring ammunition interoperability.

Further, U.S. law dictates U.S. forces interoperability with our NATO allies. This leaves cased-telescoped weapons and ammunition in the “special use” category, and that in itself is a legal show stopper for its replacement as DoD’s main battle rifle and light machine gun dedicated to CTA. Nonetheless, cased-telescoped ammunition and the special weapons that fire it are a step forward in the world of firearms technology, and Textron is leading that charge. For more information see textronsystems.com.

SIG SAUER’s Hybrid Bi-metal Cartridge

On September 3, 2019, SIG SAUER, Inc., Newington, NH, announced the official award of a U.S. Army contract for the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW). The primary objectives set forth by the U.S. Army for the NGSW-AR was a weapon with the firepower and range of a machine gun, coupled with the precision and ergonomics of a rifle. The award encompassed the complete SIG SAUER system consisting of SIG’s hybrid ammunition, a lightweight machine gun and rifle that includes suppressors. Utilized in both weapons, SIG’s 6.8mm (.27 caliber) hybrid ammunition is an interesting advance in ammunition, design, manufacturing and material metallurgy, not because of the 6.8mm round it fires, but rather the bi-metal cartridge.

SIG’s newly developed, high-pressure, 6.8x51mm hybrid ammunition is designed for increased penetration at greater range. SIG’s hybrid ammunition also achieves an important 20% reduction in cartridge weight by attaching a brass cartridge case (body) to a proprietary metallic alloy base. That’s right—a bi-metal cartridge case using dissimilar ferrous and non-ferrous metals that somewhat resembles an off-the-shelf 7.62x51mm NATO bottleneck rimless metallic cartridge.

In order to prevent metal seam separation between the alloy cartridge base and brass case upper, a lock washer (of sorts) is used between the two metals as a means to prevent case and base separation from dissimilar expansion coefficients when fired. The method SIG is using to manufacture their hybrid ammunition is otherwise proprietary, and their engineering department is not returning calls.

As outlined in the recent award, SIG SAUER will deliver a complete SIG SAUER system inclusive of the SIG SAUER 6.8x51mm hybrid ammunition, lightweight machine gun, rifle and accompanying suppressors. SIG has historically manufactured quality firearms, and no doubt their superb track record will continue. Visit sigsauer.com.

Polymer Composite Cartridge Case

It’s being manufactured and it’s available now. True Velocity, headquartered in Garland, TX, currently offers 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO, .338 NORMA, .50 BMG and 12.7×108 ammunition in its proprietary polymer composite case design. True Velocity’s composite case manufacturing utilizes scalable technology from 5.56 NATO through 14.5mm. This production technology allows rapid design modifications. True Velocity can also meet your packaging needs, including linked belts and individual rounds. Because they’re using composite munitions, they can offer the casing in multiple colors to match the operating environment, thereby lowering the battle signature. They can further color-code the composite casing to match a projectile type and load, making it distinctive and readily distinguishable from other ammunition. Remarkably, True Velocity loads all projectiles and powders with match-grade accuracy.

Unlike metallic-cased ammunition, the composite casing does not carry heat. True Velocity claims the weapon remains cooler, and the spent casing is cool to the touch. They also claim their ammunition provides substantial flash reduction because the gases exiting the bore are not superheated and therefore are below the flash point. These claims are made without the benefit of formal OT (as previously discussed).

True Velocity’s composite case ammo is easier to carry because it’s 30% lighter than brass casing ammunition of the same quantity and caliber. With casings that are 100% recyclable, the reduction in heavy metal byproducts also translates to reduced environmental impact. True Velocity’s “Lean is Our Culture” slogan is indeed a fact. True Velocity’s agile production technology reduces the required manufacturing footprint by 80% when compared to a traditional brass casing manufacturing facility. See tvammo.com.

Tracer Ammunition

Traditional tracer rounds have a bullet base filled with a magnesium-based pyrotechnic incendiary compound that‘s ignited when the round is fired, leaving a bright glowing trail (usually red or orange in color) behind the bullet as it streaks downrange. This allows the shooter to visually track (trace) the rounds’ actual flight path. Tracer ammo is most often linked into machine-gun-belted ammunition to provide the gunner immediate visual feedback of his bullet string’s trajectory and target hit proximity. This is especially useful when using fully automatic fire against moving targets and suppressing enemy fire.

However, this bright inflight glowing tracer tail comes at a price. It marks the bullet’s entire flight path from beginning to end, making the firing source location easily identifiable from both the sending and receiving ends. Additionally, because tracer rounds are incendiary and burn until their pyrotechnic is fully consumed, they will usually set fire to anything flammable where they come to rest downrange. For this reason, tracers are prohibited at nearly every indoor and outdoor range in the U.S. with the exception of specially designated military ranges. Another shortcoming of tracer rounds is that they are traditionally only available in NATO calibers, e.g., 5.56, 7.62 and .50 caliber, and this misses a huge consumer market of sportsmen shooters who shoot a variety of rifle and pistol calibers.

Can tracer ammunition be made non-incendiary, safe for indoor and outdoor range use, cost-effective and available across multiple popular calibers? Headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, with its manufacturing facility in Payson, AZ, AMMO, Inc. (ammo-inc.com) has developed a cool non-incendiary tracer solution they named “Streak Ammunition.”

Streak Ammunition is a non-incendiary “cool tracer.” They achieve this by replacing the incendiary magnesium-based pyrotechnic with a non-flammable eco-friendly strontium aluminate (glow-in-the-dark) powder mixed with clear enamel. These new phosphorescent tracer rounds achieve a similar visual nighttime effect by using the same glow-in-the-dark ingredient used in many watch faces, gauge faces and kids’ glow-in-the-dark toys. When exposed (charged) to a light source, strontium aluminate compound glows brightly for a limited time after that light source exposure is removed. Streak Ammunition uses the flash from firing the gunpowder propellant as the light source to activate (charge) the strontium aluminate compound coating the rear cavity of the tracer bullet.

At night, the visual effect is nearly identical to a conventional tracer round as it streaks downrange. Another very important advantage is that Streak Ammunition tracers offer a restricted 30-degree rear-viewing angle. This means these tracers can only be viewed from the shooter’s end, not the receiving end, thus keeping the shooter’s position unmarked. Streak Ammunition’s disadvantage is that it simply does not glow bright enough to see in bright daylight. This ammunition is now in full production and will soon be available off-the-shelf in several colors for most popular calibers.

Saboted Light Armor Penetrator (SLAP)

SLAP ammunition is uniquely designed to penetrate lightly armored vehicles and aircraft and barrier armor more efficiently than conventional steel-core, or tungsten-core, armor-piercing ammunition. Designed for use in small arms, SLAP rounds can be safely fired through a conventional gun’s rifled bore without damage or any special gun modification.

Think of a shotgun shell as an analogy. In the same manner a shotgun shell uses a plastic shot cup (wad) to carry the shot down the bore, SLAP design incorporates a polymer sabot (sabot is a French word meaning wooden shoe) that carries a lesser diameter tungsten penetrator projectile down the gun’s bore. So—the sabot’s outside diameter matches the bore diameter and carries within it a smaller diameter, lightweight, high-density, sub-caliber projectile down the gun’s bore. As the sabot leaves the gun barrel, the sabot “undergoes” immediate and profound aerodynamic lift that instantaneously strips it away from the sub-caliber projectile it’s carrying. In this manner, the sabot comes to an almost immediate halt, and it “slingshots” the SLAP projectile (it’s carrying) to extreme velocity. By design, the spin-stabilized, sub-caliber SLAP projectile has greatly increased sectional density (mass), especially if it employs a heavy metal tungsten or depleted uranium core.

SLAP ammunition has been in production since 1985 by the Winchester Cartridge Company and Olin Corporation (olin.com). The sabot that contains the sub-caliber SLAP round is manufactured by Cytec Industries. SLAP ammunition is produced in two NATO calibers, 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 Winchester) and 12.7×99mm NATO (.50 BMG). The 7.62×51mm round is designated as the M948 (standard) and M959 (tracer). The 12.7×99mm (.50 BMG) round is designated as the M903 (standard) and M962 (tracer). SLAP, by nature of its design, cannot be efficiently scaled down below 7.62mm. However, it is easily scaled-up to larger bore guns and renamed “APDS” (armor-piercing discarding sabot).

Armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS)

APDS is a form of kinetic energy projectile fired from a rifled-barrel gun to attack armored targets. APDS rounds are sabot rounds, firing a spin-stabilized armor-penetrating sub-projectile. Like SLAP ammunition, its small arms equivalent, APDS ammunition can nearly double the armor penetration of a small caliber gun, compared to armor-piercing (AP), armor-piercing—capped (APC), or armor-piercing, capped, ballistic-capped (APCBC) projectiles.

APDS technology is not new, and it actually preceded SLAP ammunition. In fact, its development began in France prior to the 1940 Franco-German Armistice. Resulting from the project engineers fleeing France to escape the Nazi’s occupation, APDS projectile technology was honed in the United Kingdom from 1941 to 1944. In mid-1944, the UK was first to operationally field the APDS projectile for use in their QF 6-pounder anti-tank gun.

However, these early APDSs had low sectional density and high aerodynamic drag, resulting in poor “carrying power” (meaning the round rapidly lost velocity and penetration over distance). As a means to eliminate these negative factors, the engineers designed a flowerpot-shaped outer sheath (sabot) that was immediately discarded upon leaving the bore.

Today, the front end of the pot (sabot) has 3 to 4 petals, depending on the bore diameter, that are covered with a bore-centering band (usually made from a sacrificial nylon derivative material). This design provides the high-density APDS core / projectile with unencumbered bore acceleration, high muzzle velocity and downrange carrying power while eliminating the consequences of high drag in flight.

Newer medium-caliber APDS cores are constructed from a frangible high-density alloy. These projectiles are called Frangible Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot, or FAPDS, when employed as APDS types. When they’re used as full-caliber projectiles they’re called FRAP rounds (Frangible Armor Piercing) because during target penetration, the projectile’s frangible core fragments into numerous high-velocity pieces. On a lightly armored target, the effect is akin to a high explosive incendiary round, but with the addition of a lethal cloud of dense high-velocity fragments penetrating deep into the target’s interior—it’s not survivable for those inside. When striking heavy armor, the FAPDS’s effect is more akin to a standard APDS, only with higher fragmentation of the core and subsequently, higher lethality if the armor is penetrated.

Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE)

In case you’re not sufficiently mind-boggled by now, the FAPDS is also known as a Penetrator with Enhanced Lateral Effect (PELE). But PELE has some very subtle design modifications. It is fuzeless ammunition without any explosives that leverages its material design composition to get an explosive-like physical effect upon impact with a hard armored surface. PELE’s effectiveness derives from its design and material construction using the combination of two dissimilar density materials.

The projectile’s outer body is constructed from high-density steel or tungsten material. The inner core consists of a low-density aluminum or plastic material. When the PELE projectile impacts a target, the high-density outer component penetrates the target material. However, the low-density inner component, which has a much lower penetration performance, is dramatically slowed upon target impact. This inertia-to-mass mismatch causes a tremendous instantaneous pressure build-up inside the projectile that easily reaches values in the region of gigabars and mimics the effects of a high-explosive-shaped charge against the target.

The result is the projectile disintegrates (explodes) into a large number of highly lethal, high-velocity fragments that will punch through nearly most material like light armor, block walls, frame, body armor, etc. Better, the number and size of the fragments is adjustable as a function of the projectile‘s physical dimensions and material construction. Even better, the PELE effect is scalable to larger calibers and can be achieved by using non-exotic standard ammunition construction materials.

Reduced Range Cartridge

Nammo, headquartered in Raufoss, Norway, has developed and qualified a new .50-caliber, Reduced Range (RR) cartridge for training on smaller ranges where the normal 5-mile downrange danger area must be radically reduced. While not designed as a training round, it absolutely provides affordable training options never before available. The downrange safety template of the cartridge is the same as standard 7.62mm NATO rounds, so warfighters and law enforcement snipers can train with .50-caliber weapons at ranges previously approved for 7.62mm and below, or by carving up an existing .50-caliber range into several smaller sites. Some users are also interested in the RR cartridge for combat in urban operations where line-of-sight is limited, and there is high concern about collateral damage. The Nammo round has the same ballistics as NATO standard .50-caliber ammo to about 800m (875 yards), and accuracy has been demonstrated to be better than standard .50-caliber Ball/AP ammo within this range. The Nammo .50-caliber Reduced Range ammunition is qualified in accordance with NATO specifications and already fielded by several countries for use in both machine guns and rifles. Visit nammo.com.

EXACTO—Command-Guided Ammunition

EXACTO (Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance) is the research and development (R&D) program headed by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) for round guidance technology, involving a combination of “fire and forget” technologies currently applied to guided .50-caliber rounds. EXACTO .50-caliber rounds can make course corrections in mid-flight. As part of a DARPA-funded project, Teledyne and Orbital ATK’s Armament Systems Division developed this round and its guidance system. While the program officially ended in 2017, the EXACTO program developed new approaches and advanced capabilities to improve the range and accuracy of sniper systems beyond the current state of the art.

DARPA’s program manager, Jerome Dunn, described it like this: “EXACTO’s specially designed ammunition [employs] a real-time optical guidance system to track and direct the [.50-caliber] projectiles to their targets by compensating for weather, wind, target movement and other factors that can otherwise impede successful hits. True to DARPA’s mission, EXACTO demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target. Live-fire demonstration from a standard rifle showed that EXACTO is able to hit moving and evading targets with extreme accuracy at sniper ranges unachievable with traditional rounds. Fitting EXACTO’s guidance capabilities into a small .50-caliber size [round] is a major breakthrough and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers.”

Exactly how they’ve achieved this quantum advancement in bullet guidance can only be imagined. It is believed they use a spin-stabilized projectile with internal and/or external aero-actuation control methods equipped with projectile guidance technologies, tamper proofing and macro-power supplies. The round’s guidance system consisting of advanced sighting, optical resolution and clarity technology components remains classified, as does the bullet’s guidance technology. It is likely that this program has been moved into DARPA’s “black” program side. Perhaps one day guided bullet technology will emerge and become available, but as of today that is only wishful thinking. For more information see darpa.gov.

12-Ga. Shotgun Special Purpose Ammo

The 12-gauge shotgun is perhaps the most versatile, most widely used gun for sporting purposes, home defense and law enforcement. As such, 12-gauge shotgun ammunition offers the widest selection of loads available for any off-the-shelf gauge or caliber gun. Shot-filled shells are most commonly used for across-the-broad applications, but there are other far more exotic loads available designed for special purpose use. While most of these shells aren’t cheap ($5 dollars or more per round), they generally perform as advertised. Here are some examples.

Triple Threat Round. This home defense specialty shotgun round is available in a variety of different names. It’s loaded in three layers consisting of a half-length slug, No. 8 birdshot and No.4 buckshot. Its effectiveness is limited by the range / distance / proximity to the target. The advantage a slug + birdshot + buckshot combo offers in a single shot is debatable, but the marketing concept sounds lethal.

Flechette Round. Flechette is a French word that means little arrow. Flechettes resemble miniature steel arrows. Like arrows, they have arrow-style points and stabilizing fins on the trailing end. The 1-inch long, 12-gauge versions are bundled inside the 12-gauge shot cup (wad) which acts as a sabot to carry the flechette bundle down the shotgun’s bore, releasing them into ballistic flight as the shot cup strips off from aerodynamic drag. The flechettes continue downrange and pierce through (like a straw in an apple) nearly anything they encounter with the exception of hard armor, stone, steel, thick wood and bone. They can penetrate soft body armor with little effort, and they will completely pass through soft body tissue, leaving little visible surface damage. The maximum effective range is about 30 to 40 yards. U.S. Navy SEALs first used 12-gauge flechette rounds during the Vietnam War, but found later in the war that 00 buckshot had far more immediate stopping power.

Metal Piercing Discarding Sabot (MPDS). Much like a rifled slug used for hunting, this round uses a sabot-carried, 500-grain, heat-treated proprietary-alloy, heavy metal slug designed for metal penetration. The slug rides in a sabot and makes no direct contact with the bore. Leaving the muzzle-end at a velocity of around 1,700 ft/sec, the sabot is discarded as it is subjected to aerodynamic lift. The slug has a bottom heavy hourglass shape that helps stabilize its in-flight ballistic trajectory. This projectile will easily break an engine block or penetrate through both sides of a car and continue on. These 12-gauge rounds perform as advertised and should not be taken trivially.

.50-cal. BMG Shotgun. This 12-gauge round actually contains a .50 BMG / M17 Tracer round that is carried by two sabot sleeves to maintain straight alignment throughout its travel down the bore. The incendiary tracer lights when the round is fired and burns about 3 to 4 seconds, offering about a 400m tracer burnout. It is inherently inaccurate because the .50-caliber round is not spin- or fin-stabilized. For example, at 400m a typical elevation hold of about 30 feet above the target is necessary. This round has little practical value other than its “nasty” unfired look.

Bolo Round. Like a hand-thrown bolo that whirls during flight to entangle its target, this 12-gauge shotgun round is constructed by using a short length of flexible steel wire to connect two lead slugs together. Coiled into a shot cup to carry it down the bore, the miniature bolo is released as the shot cup strips away as it leaves the muzzle. The bolo round then swirls its way downrange to mash and entwine a live target at ranges of 30 to 40 yards. The effectiveness of this round against dog-size animals and/or large goose-size birds is marginal. The round sounds interesting, but it’s no substitute for a shot-carrying shell or a rifled slug that possesses unarguable effectiveness and reliability against a given target.

Dragon’s Breath (Incendiary Round). Dragon’s Breath is a unique type of 12-gauge incendiary round loaded with magnesium shards. When the round is fired, it resembles a huge torch of white-hot sparks and scorching flames that reaches out to about 100 feet. This searing hot flame only lasts a few seconds, but it will ignite anything flammable in its path—a human’s clothing—or cause serious burns otherwise. While prohibited on all civilian ranges except for specifically designated government ranges, it must only be used outdoors with extreme caution and target discretion.

Flashbang Round. These rounds don’t fire a projectile. Rather, they produce an intensely bright muzzle flash accompanied by an instantaneous 182dB report that will disorient anyone without ear protection. The gun must be pointed down and away from a human target to prevent severe injury. If fired in rapid volley from a semiauto-loading shotgun they can immobilize a hostile within close proximity. While it’s hard to say whether they’re actually effective in a tactical situation, these rounds do exactly what they’re advertised to do; they cause an obnoxiously loud bang.

Rubber Bullet Rounds. These rounds are often used by law enforcement for riot control. They are used much like regular shotgun ammo except they must never be aimed at a person’s face or chest. They’re loaded with nothing more than rubber 00 buckshot as replacement for lead or steel shot. They are still lethal at close range and can easily knock out an eye at 40 yards.

Beanbag Rounds. Used by law enforcement as a less-than-lethal solution, this round is many times loaded with small teabag-size cloth bags filled with bismuth powder. Bismuth is close to lead in mass (weight), but unlike lead it is non-toxic and eco-friendly. There are some beanbag rounds available that are loaded with lighter materials for specific less-than-lethal use at very close range. Stick with the heavy bags and aim for the legs and lower body.

What the Future Holds

Soldier-carried Directed Energy (Laser) Weapons are well within current technical grasp. Prototypes have been built and fielded for nearly 2 decades. Miniaturizing high-power-directed energy technology has not been the limiting factor for the adoption of such weapons for battlefield use. The limiting factors really only involve two issues: one technical and one political.

Lasers of sufficient power to damage material objects like vehicles and aircraft or burn holes in other soldiers consume large amounts of power. That requires a large portable power source that can be sustained. Reducing power-source size so it can easily be soldier-carried also reduces its capacity to recharge the laser(s) it powers. So power sustainability is a major showstopper when it comes to soldier-carried offensive laser systems.

A second show stopper are the Geneva Conventions and their follow-on addendums that dictate what can and can’t be used to kill one’s enemy. While it’s acceptable to shoot holes in one’s enemy, lasers are only acceptable when used for target designation but not to blind or burn holes into the enemy. As ridiculous as this might sound, it is a recognized measure in the Rules of War. This playbook will likely change as robotic warfighting systems (drones of all types) technically mature and are fielded against similar adversary systems, both terrestrially and celestially. They will surely rely upon some form of directed energy because killing robots with robots using directed energy isn’t covered by any Convention.

Achieving an army of robotic combatants is still a decade or more in the future, but it is coming. Until then, and perhaps well into the next several decades, kinetic weapons consisting of bullet firing guns will remain the cost-effective mainstay for warfare, law enforcement and sporting purposes. As a result, ammunition will continue to evolve and so will the weapons that fire it.

Product description for each caliber

Caliber:

Projectile style:

Projectile weight:

Velocity FPS:

Energy (Ft. Lbs.):

Accuracy:

How packaged:

Cartridge weight:

% weight savings:]

TRUE VELOCITY INC. [HAS 3 products]

True Velocity’s ammunition is over 30% lighter than conventional brass rounds. TV’s proprietary design innovations reduce overall weapons signature. Our lighter weight ammunition reduces transportation costs and increases operational advantages. Through the collaboration of science, technology and ballistic subject matter experts, True Velocity’s ammunition is specifically designed to meet the rigorous demands of the next generation weapon and modernization strategy.

tvammo.com

5.56x45mm NATO

True Velocity composite case 5.56x45mm Precision Ammunition is designed to incorporate many capabilities not found in other ammunition. The fully loaded composite case is more than 30% lighter than brass and acts as an insulator against heat fatigue in weapon chambers. Proprietary development and production methods allow the ammunition to meet velocity and function requirements in all USSOCOM-tested weapons. The projectile is an Opened Tipped Match bullet designed for consistency and accuracy. True Velocity Composite ammunition has been designed to function in harsh conditions and in all USSOCOM weapon systems.

Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO

Projectile style: Lightweight Composite/OTM

Projectile weight: 77 grains

Velocity FPS: 838.2m/s (2,750 ft/s)

Energy (Ft Lb): Proprietary

Accuracy: Proprietary

How packaged: MIL-SPEC

Cartridge weight: 144 grains

% weight savings: More than 30% lighter than brass

7.62x51mm NATO

True Velocity composite case 7.62×51 Precision Ammunition is designed to incorporate many capabilities not found in other ammunition. The fully loaded composite case is 30% lighter than brass and acts as an insulator against heat fatigue in weapon chambers. Proprietary development and production methods allow the ammunition to meet pressure, velocity and function requirements in all USSOCOM-tested weapons. The projectile is a Sierra Match King, 168 grains. The unique design of the projectile assures superb accuracy, flat trajectory and high momentum delivery with low sensitivity to crosswinds at all ranges. True Velocity Composite ammunition has been designed to function in harsh conditions and in all USSOCOM weapon systems.

Caliber: 7.62×51 NATO

Projectile style: Lightweight Composite/ Hollow-Point Boat Tail

Projectile weight: 168 grains

Velocity FPS: 814.7/s (2,673 ft/s)

Energy (Ft Lb): Proprietary

Accuracy: Proprietary

How packaged: MIL-SPEC

Cartridge weight: 264 grains

% weight savings: More than 30% lighter than brass

.50 BMG / 12.7x99mm NATO

True Velocity’s composite case .50 BMG / 12.7×99 NATO Ammunition is designed to incorporate many capabilities not found in other ammunition. The fully loaded composite case is 30% lighter than brass and acts as an insulator against heat fatigue in weapon chambers. Proprietary development and production methodologies allow the ammunition to meet velocity and function requirements in all current DoD weapons, as well as to function across a wide spectrum of harsh operating environments.

Caliber: .50 BMG / 12.7x99mm NATO

Projectile style: Lightweight Composite/ FMJ, M33 Ball

Projectile weight: 660 grains

Velocity FPS: 885.4 m/s (2,905 ft/s)

Energy (Ft Lb): Proprietary

Accuracy: Proprietary

How packaged: MIL-SPEC

Cartridge weight: 1,259 grains

% weight savings: More than 30% lighter than brass

MAC, LLC

.50 Cal Polymer Cased Ammunition

The only polymer rounds qualified by the U.S. government, fielded and used in live operations. MAC .50 Cal Polymer Cased Ammunition

meets specifications for MIL-DTL-10190F for velocity, pressure, accuracy, bullet pull and function at ambient and temperature extremes. Compatible with all US-MIL caliber .50 machine guns and rifles with standard .50 BMG chambers.

info@macammo.com

Caliber: .50

Case: Hybrid polymer/metal design

Projectile style: Customer Choice

Projectile weight: Proprietary

Velocity FPS: 2,905 fps (885 m/s)

Energy (Ft Lb): Proprietary

Max Pressure: 65,000 psi

Accuracy: Single-digit Standard Deviation for velocity

How packaged: 100 rounds linked 4/1 tracer in M2A2 box, or per customer specifications

Cartridge weight: 96 grams (typical)

% weight savings: Up to 30%

NAMMO

5.56 PSRTA

Plastic Short Range Training Ammunition (PSRTA) is intended for use in training areas where range restrictions preclude the use of full-range standard service ammunition. Lead-free primers remove nearly all trace amounts of toxins reducing risk to users. Currently in use at Special Operations training facilities.

nammo.com

Caliber: 5.56×45

Projectile style: Polymer force on target (training)

Projectile weight: Proprietary

Velocity FPS: Generally matched to 855A1

Energy (Ft Lb): Proprietary

Accuracy: Similar to M855 at 20m

How packaged: 30 per box

Cartridge weight: 3.0g–3.3g (48 ± 3 g)

% weight savings: Proprietary

TEXTRON SYSTEMS [HAS 3 Products]

Textron Systems’ CT ammunition uses a novel ammunition design, in which the projectile is seated within a cylindrical case. The CT design allows for up to 37% weight savings, compared to equivalent-performing brass cartridges.

textronsystems.com

5.56mm CT

The 5.56mm CT reduces total system weight by 40% and maintains the same capabilities as the M249 conventional system.

Caliber: 5.56mm CT Cased Telescoped

Projectile style: M855

Projectile weight: 62 grains

Velocity FPS: 3,020

Energy (Ft Lb): 2,509

Accuracy: Proprietary

How packaged: Proprietary

Cartridge weight: 127 grains

% weight savings, cartridge: 33%

% Weight savings, cartridge and link: 39% (Reference cartridge & link M855/M27)

6.5mm CT Carbine

The 6.5mm CT Carbine system provides a 35% ammo weight savings with 30% increased lethality, compared to 7.62mm conventional systems.

[ADAM—THE 2 CHARTS BELOW HAVE EMBEDDED TABLES I CAN’T REMOVE.]

7.62mm CT MMG Cased Telescoped

With a total system reduction of 37%, the 7.62mm CT MMG matches the performance of the M240 conventional system.

INTRODUCTION

Although Ethiopia has produced small-caliber ammunition for at least 60 years (and probably 90 or more), little information is publicly available regarding Ethiopian outputs, and knowledge of Ethiopian cartridges is largely restricted to specialist circles. This piece is intended as a general introduction to Ethiopian ammunition production, with a deeper look at three calibers produced during the post-WWII period under the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie.

ARES has accessed substantial quantities of Ethiopian-made 7.92x57mm, .30-06 and 7.62x51mm cartridges from this period, which are becoming more accessible in global civilian markets, particularly in the United States. We have assessed the physical characteristics and markings of both the cartridges and their packaging, below. ARES Researcher Ian McCollum has also conducted some limited velocity testing.

HISTORICAL PRODUCTION

The first ammunition factory in Ethiopia was established sometime during the early 20th century. According to an Ethiopian defence industry source, the first ammunition production facility was founded under the reign of Emperor Menelik in 1911 to produce ammunition for “Wejigra and Wechefor rifles.” A Czech source describes the first factory in Ethiopia as having been established by Czech interests, sometime in the 1920s, under the reign of Empress Zäwditu. In exchange for exported hides and skins, Ethiopia imported Czech glassware, furniture, sugar, textiles and porcelain. Another source refers to a factory of this time period only as “Tiyet Fabrica” and gives no further details. In any case, the outputs of this factory or factories appear to be limited, and little is known about the subject today.

Between 1947 and 1950, the Emperor Haile Selassie I Ammunition Factory was established in Addis Ababa by Považské Strojárne of Czechoslovakia. It is possible that this factory may have been built on the site of the earlier Tiyet Fabrica, or simply constituted a retrofit and upgrade of that same factory. Some sources refer to this as the Mexico ammunition factory,” in reference to its location near Mexico Square, in Addis Ababa. During this period Ethiopia also served as the “cover destination” for Czechoslovak arms deliveries to Israel. The communist coup d’état of February 1948 in Czechoslovakia did not dampen relations much, and the factory received ongoing support from the Warsaw Pact-aligned regime.

It appears that after the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie, the ammunition factory in Addis Ababa bearing his name was renamed, and the “M.E.D.” headstamp was introduced. This may be an acronym for the Department of Defence Industry (DDI), the government office under the Ministry of Defence that became responsible for all defence production in Ethiopia. This eventually became the Defense Industry Sector (DIS), and later was reconstituted under the state-owned Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC).

Ammunition was originally produced primarily for domestic use, in calibers required by the Ethiopian Armed Forces. A range of firearms were used over the decades, but some important ones for our purpose included: FN Herstal M30 series bolt-action rifles; the Czech ZH-29, FN Herstal M30 BAR self-loading rifles; ZB vz. 26 general-purpose machine guns in 7.92x57mm; M1 Garand and Browning M1918 BAR self-loading rifles; M1917 and M1919 general-purpose machine guns in .30-06; and Springfield M14 and Beretta BM 59 self-loading rifles (7.62x51mm).

The 7.92x57mm, .30-06 and 7.62x51mm cartridges assessed by ARES share marked physical similarities with Czech cartridges, confirming accounts of Czech support in providing manufacturing equipment and technical support. .303 British cartridges were also produced for Ethiopian domestic use. At some point during production (with examples from 1959–1963), 7.92, .303 and .30-06 cartridges were marked with a caliber designation in the headstamp.

CONTEMPORARY PRODUCTION

Current production of ammunition in Ethiopia takes place under the auspices of the Homicho Ammunition Engineering Industry (HAEI), which is located 140km to the west of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, in the Western Shewa Zone of the Oromia regional state, near the town of Ambo. Homicho was established in 1987 as “Project 130.” The factories were established with Soviet and North Korean assistance. In 2010, the company was restructured as a subsidiary of the state-owned METEC. It is sometimes referred to in unofficial Ethiopian sources as the Homicho Ammunition Engineering Complex.

HAEI has produced 7.62×39, 7.62x54Rmm, 12.7x108mm and 14.5x114mm cartridges. In addition to small-caliber ammunition, Homicho has also produced medium- and large-caliber munitions and components. An official METEC source describes the outputs as ranging from “7.62mm bullets up to 130mm artillery ammunitions.” According to official information, HAEI is comprised of seven factories located on a 980,000 square meter lot in a 224-hectare complex, producing the following outputs:

1.    Small- and medium-caliber ammunition

2.    Large-caliber ammunition

3.    Extrusion and forming

4.    Cases and liners

5.    Explosives and propellants

6.    Fuzes and detonators

7.    Rockets

7.62×39, 7.62×51, 7.62x54R and possibly other caliber cartridges without headstamps have been produced by Homicho in recent years. The three confirmed calibers all feature cartridge cases, projectiles, primers, sealants and other details consistent with the post-Selassie .30-06 and 7.62×51 detailed herein. Examples of unmarked HAEI cartridges can be seen in Figure 2.5, which is from a “Small Arms Survey” report examining weapons documented in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states of Sudan in 2013.

HAEI has supplied substantial quantities of its products to the Ethiopian military and domestic law enforcement, as well as the Armed Forces of Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and elsewhere. Examples have also been documented during seizures from non-state actors in various African states, including the Central African Republic, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, and in the holdings of private security companies such as Saracen International Ltd.

Homicho has also been under international scrutiny for its ties to North Korea. In addition to historical Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) assistance in constructing and operating the Ambo plant, HAEI previously listed the Korea Mineral Trading General Corporation (a DPRK state-owned entity) as one of its major suppliers in a company document. Important Ethiopian outputs—including the development and production of the ET-97 and ET-97/1 self-loading rifles—have been directly supported by the DPRK (in this case the Korea Ryongbong General Corporation). Assistance continued until at least as recently as 2007, and both the UN and Western states pressured Ethiopia to sever ties. Analysis shows there has been an ongoing relationship between the two countries in more recent years.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

A quick visual analysis of random samples across all three calibers indicated that the ammunition was clean and well-packaged, with clear annealing marks on the shoulders. All examples were free from obvious external corrosion. The 7.62 NATO showed some evidence of a case mouth sealant below the neck.

Projectiles

The .30-06 and 7.62 cartridges feature ball projectiles with a lead core and a gilding metal-clad steel (GMCS) jacket. The 7.92 cartridges also feature lead-core ball projectiles, but a single box of ammunition contained cartridges featuring projectiles with a mix of GMCS and cupronickel-clad steel (CNCS) jackets. These were all marked with the same headstamp.

ARES Researcher Ian McCollum pulled and weighed projectiles taken from 10 rounds of each caliber. The bullet weights (in grains) were as follows:

NOTE: The average weight of 7.92 GMCS projectiles was 197.6 grains, while the average weight of 7.92 CNCS projectiles was 197.2 grains.

Profile view of the projectiles from the three calibers assessed. Note the GMCS and CCS projectile jackets for the 7.92x57mm cartridges, at right.

Propellant

While the 7.92x57mm cartridges make use of a square flake-type propellant, cylindrical propellant is used in both the .30-06 and 7.62x51mm rounds. That used in the .30-06 is of the cord-type, with no perforation, while the 7.62 rounds make use of single-perforated tubular type.

Markings

The markings on the ammunition packaging and the headstamps are in Amharic, the official working language of Ethiopia, and are marked in the fidäl or Ge’ez script. The headstamps of the 7.92x57mm ammunition ARES assessed, for example, are marked “ቀኃሥ”, which is transliterated as follows:  YESቀ = q+ä = qä

ኃ = h+a = ha

ሥ = s+ə = sə

These are the initials of Haile Selassie, whose name is written in Amharic as “ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ.” This can be transliterated to Latin script as Qädamawi Haylä Səllasé, so his initials are “Qä. Ha. Sə.” or “ቀ ኃ ሥ,” as seen on the headstamps.

The 7.62x51mm and .30-06 cartridges assessed by ARES are marked with the headstamp “መ ኢ ድ,” or “M.E.D.” These headstamps appeared following Emperor Haile Selassie’s removal from the throne in 1974.

All of the cartridges assessed used the Berdan priming system. The 7.92 cartridges featured a translucent blue sealant at the primer annulus, while the .30-06 and 7.62 cartridges featured a translucent red sealant.

The headstamps and packaging markings for each of the calibers assessed were as follows:

7.92x57mm Headstamp

.30-06 Headstamp 

 7.62x51mm Headstamp

PACKAGING

7.92x57mm Packaging

7.92x57mm ammunition was packaged in inner cardboard packaging (with white ribbon pull-tabs) of 15 rounds. Twenty of these smaller cardboard boxes were contained within intermediate cardboard packaging. Five 300-round boxes were contained with each wooden crate, for a total of 1,500 rounds per crate. Markings were as follows:

Outer Packaging 

Intermediate Packaging

Inner Packaging

.30-06 Packaging

Two packaging methods for .30-06 ammunition were observed in the ARES sample. For the ammunition packaged in bandoliers, four bandoliers of six en bloc clips were packaged in each ammunition can. The ammunition can was an over-painted western example. The clips were marked ”SF” for ”Serini in France.” Other reported examples are marked ”BRW,” “HA,” “IS” and “SA.” Each clip holds eight rounds, for a total of 192 cartridges per can. Markings were as follows:

Outer Packaging

Inner Packaging 

Loose cartridges were packaged in cardboard inner packages (with white ribbon pull-tabs) of 15 rounds. Twenty such cardboard boxes were contained within each ammunition can, for a total of 300 rounds. The ammunition can was probably an over-painted western example. Markings on the outer packaging were as follows (the inner boxes were unmarked):

Outer Packaging

 7.62x51mm Packaging

7.62x51mm cartridges were packaged in 20-round inner cardboard boxes, with cardboard dividers between four sections of five rounds each. Fourteen of these packages were included in each ammunition can, for a total of 280 rounds. The can was an over-painted British H82 Mk 1 type, produced in February 1959. Markings on the outer packaging were as follows (the inner boxes were unmarked):

Outer Packaging 

 TEST-FIRING

In order to gather more data about this little-known ammunition, ARES also tested the velocity of a sample of these cartridges. Fifteen rounds of each caliber were test-fired, and a chronograph was used to record the projectile velocity (given below in feet per second) at a measured distance of 3m from the muzzle of the weapon (V3).

The rifles used for testing the ammunition were as follows:

.30-06                         M1917 Enfield (26in. barrel)

7.62×51         Israeli Kar.98K rework (23.6in. barrel)

7.92×57          German Kar.98K (23.6in. barrel)

The recorded velocities were as follows:

NOTE: Entries marked with an asterisk (*) required two primer strikes before functioning.

During testing, both the 7.92 and 7.62 cartridges exhibited hang-fires in approximately 50% of cases. None of these exceeded 0.5 seconds in duration (estimated). Video of some of this testing is being uploaded to Mr. McCollum’s Forgotten Weapons YouTube channel for consumer interest.

7.92x57mm

.30-06  

7.62x51mm

Data collected by Ian McCollum. Special thanks to Fitsum Abera, Jack Dutschke, Federico Graziano and Daniel Hughes.

See armamentresearch.com for further original content.

June 21, 2019, in the Swiss Alps outside of Montreux: “Smoke on the Water” playing on the radio as we drove around hundreds of mountain curves, some at 320 degrees, uphill, downhill and finally to the destination on a remote Swiss military range where a 1600 meters target could be engaged. None of us, however, was planning on shooting at over 600 meters, but the range was beautiful nonetheless. RUAG, the Swiss company that owns many international divisions in munitions, had decided to push further into the U.S. (and world) tactical and precision shooting markets, using their well-established Swiss P ammunition program, and we were to test six of the .308 (7.62x51mm) offerings.

“Like a Swiss watch” is a common saying used to discuss a product of admirable reliability and quality. That’s for a reason: The Swiss have a reputation for meticulously made products and for machinery that is the most modern and reliable. Swiss P ammunition is a product of RUAG Ammotech AG, and, of course, the “P” stands for “Precision.” After shooting it, this author was thinking “P” for “Perfection.”

We went for a factory tour in Thun, Switzerland, where RUAG manufactures the ammunition. They are true manufacturers, not just assemblers of components. Starting with intense quality assurance inspection of any raw materials, rolls of brass and copper sheeting go into one end of the production lines, disks are stamped, made into cups, extruded and pickled, extruded, formed, trimmed and pickled again, primer pockets made, necks annealed, and the bullets are made on parallel lines. This allows RUAG’s quality control engineers to control every aspect of the process to ensure as near to perfect repeatability in each component. Final assembly is done with very reliable high-grade primers and temperature stable powder brought from other sections of the building to the assembly machines. There are state-of-the-art inspection stations that search for flaws and if any appear, knock any errant product from the line. After that, the product undergoes visual inspection and packaging as well as testing of selected lots.

That repeatable perfection in every component and dismissal of any imperfection is what it takes to make truly accurate ammunition. Anyone who has seen slow-motion photography of a bullet uncorking from a rifle muzzle knows how crazy it looks and automatically question how the rifle can even hit close to the same place with subsequent rounds. It’s all about repeatable events. In order to achieve true accuracy, you need a good, solid bedded rifle; every action should be identical for the interior ballistics of that rifle, correct lands and grooves as well as barrel length. Uncorking should be from a perfect chamfered exit, the platform firing it should be stable (that platform is the shooter, who also needs skills), and of course the ammunition must be homogenous to an incredible degree. The targets we fired in this case, speak for themselves.

There are common threads between the offerings in each caliber from Swiss P (RUAG). In the case at hand, we were testing 7.62x51mm (.308 NATO) rounds.

Some of the features include:

• Match grade accuracy
• Coordinated ballistics between the various rounds in the same caliber
• Militarized crimping and sealing
• Optimized for semiautomatic and fully automatic weapons as well as bolt action.

SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE ROUNDS TESTED

Ammunition	Swiss P Styx Action	Swiss P Total SR (Short Range)	Swiss P Tactical Solid
Comments	Hyper-expanding hollow-point bullet reduces danger of collateral damage.	Disintegrating hollow-point for short-range missions.	Excellent first hit probability of targets behind glass.
Projectile weight	167 gr (10.8g) HPBT	130 gr (8.4g) JHP	163 gr (10.6g) SFNBT
Projectile material	Tombac jacket, lead core	Tombac jacket, lead core	Cu-Zn alloy
Ballistic coefficient G1	0.3630 (ICAO)	0.2397 (ICAO)	0.3032 (ICAO)
Propellant	SINOXID/Double-base powder	SINOXID/Double-base powder	SINOXID/Double-base powder
Case material	Cu-Zn alloy	Cu-Zn alloy	Cu-Zn alloy
Case weight	24.8g	22.4g	24.6g
Chamber pressure	Max. 4 150 bar	Max. 4 150 bar	Max. 4 150 bar
Temperature range	-54o to +52o	-54o to +52o	-54o to +52o
Muzzle velocity	810 m/s 2,657 fps	895 m/s 2,936 fps	820 m/s 2,690 fps
Muzzle energy	3,543 J	3,360 J	3,564 J

——————–

The selection of rifles and optics RUAG brought to the range matched the expected quality of the Swiss P ammunition:

• Truvelo CMS 7.62×51 with Kahles K624i 6-24x56mm scope
• Blaser Tactical 2 with Schmidt & Bender PMII 4-16×50 scope
• Steyr SSG 04 with Kahles K624i 6-24x56mm scope

We fired three rounds of each type of ammunition, at each of 600m, 300m and 100m targets. RUAG engineer Michael Muster was the shooter at 600m from the bipod supported prone, and he chose the Truvelo CMS 7.62 with a Kahles K624i to start with. After each type of ammunition was fired, the hits were circled with coded shapes. His groups at 600m varied from 1 MOA to 1.5 MOA, a very respectable showing. On inspection of the primers, there was a bit of backflow, which was clearly an issue with this particular CMS rifle.

We then moved to 300m, and this author chose the Steyr SSG 04 with a Kahles K624i scope. I have fired Truvelos extensively, as well as the Blaser (both excellent rifles), and wanted to try the SSG 04. Each of the groups was within 1 MOA, with occasional floaters due to operator error—I was firing over a truck hood. The most amazing group was with the Swiss P Armour Piercing. It was well under .5 MOA, and the AP had lived up to its reputation as one of the most accurate rounds they make.

A storm was coming in very quickly, so we moved to 100m, and I fired three rounds over the truck hood, grouping under 1 MOA. We then quickly loaded up and got out of there before the storm hit.

Conclusion

RUAG Ammotec’s precision ammunition is everything they claim it is, and it is everything an accurate shooter or sniper could want. Explaining the nuances of firing different ammunition, slight changes in felt recoil and so on are pretty pointless and very subjective. Different rifles can be quantified, different calibers can be explained, but within a caliber range, unless there is a massive difference in powder loads or projectile weights, they’re the same. What matters is shot placement, repeatability and terminal performance. The terminal ballistics are explained by RUAG technicians and were not what we were testing.

This author can attest to the accuracy throughout the 7.62mm NATO Swiss P offerings; these rounds were taken from unopened cases and were clearly standard production. The consistency was outstanding. I suspect that well-trained snipers could drive any of these rounds at sub-.5 MOA on demand.

Contact

RUAG Ammotec AG

Uttigenstrasse 67

3602 Thun | Switzerland

Tel: +41 332 282 879

Fax: +41 332 282 644

Email: sales.ammotec@ruag.com

ruag.com

The two Kalashnikov rifles represent the latest iteration of the classic design, originally adopted by the Soviet Army some 70 years ago. These rifles were recommended as potential replacements for an existing bunch of AK-type rifles in general service in the Russian military, including the 5.45mm AK-74M and older 7.62mm AKM rifles. As of early 2019, the Kalashnikov Group confirmed governmental orders for at least 150,000 of the new 5.45mm AK-12 and 7.62mm AK-15 rifles, plus an unspecified number of export orders.

Rifles from Degtyarov were recommended for adoption by Russian Special Forces, and so far no specifics are available for the possible number of rifles on order, but it is safe to assume that numbers would be much smaller than those mentioned above. However, both ZiD rifles, which differ only with cartridges they use, are sufficiently unusual in design to warrant this article.

Unusual ZiD Rifles                                                                

The most unusual and unique aspect of the A-545 and A-762 rifles is their so-called “balanced action.” Originally devised in the mid-1960s by Soviet small arms engineer Pyotr Tkachev, this system adds an additional gas piston and operating rod to otherwise more or less traditional gas-operated action. It is a common fact that the unrivalled reliability of AK-type rifles comes from, among other things, heavy bolt groups reciprocating inside receiver with significant velocity. Under normal circumstances, an AK-74 bolt group, which weighs around 500g, slams against the rear trunnion inside the receiver with terminal velocity of 3m to 4m per second. This creates significant additional recoil impulse that disrupts aiming and increases muzzle rise during full-automatic fire. An additional impulse is created when the same bolt group slams the front trunnion after chambering the next round. The simplest way to reduce shocks and vibration from these impulses is to adopt a “constant” or “soft” recoil system, similar to that used in the Utimax machine gun, where the bolt group does not hit the receiver upon its travel back. However, this simple system results in a longer receiver and decreased reliability under harsh conditions.

Tkachev’s idea was to counter and neutralize these impulses with addition of the counter-mass, moving inside the gun in a direction opposite to movement of the bolt group while having the same velocity and, if possible, mass. That way a shooter won’t experience additional recoil shocks from movement of the bolt group, and full-auto or rapid semiautomatic fire dispersion would be noticeably decreased without sacrificing power necessary to overcome dirt, powder residue or frozen grease during extensive combat.

History of Balanced-Action Assault Rifles

Starting in the late 1960s, balanced-action assault rifles were designed in parallel at two leading small arms development centers: in Izhevsk, it’s IZHMASH, and in Kovrov, it’s KMZ, Kovrov Mechanical Plant. IZHMASH produced a line of rifles designed by Mikhail Alexandrov, which started with the AL-5 and culminated in the unsuccessful AK-107. Early work in Kovrov resulted in the 5.45mm Konstantinov SA-006 assault rifle, which competed against Kalashnikov AK-74 and eventually lost trials in 1972 to 1973, as being more complicated, more expensive and having some other issues, while offering only limited improvements over the conventional 5.45mm AK and only when firing short bursts from off-hand positions.

Despite this setback, designers from Kovrov continued their work on balanced-action rifles, which resulted in the AEK-971, a 5.45mm balanced-action weapon which was extensively tested during the “Abakan” trials of the late 1980s and early 1990s and lost it again, this time to Nikonov AN-94, another unusual rifle that features an entirely different system. Undeterred, KMZ continued development of the AEK-971 until around 2006, when it passed all small arms development to another factory located in the same city, the aforementioned Degtyarov Plant, or ZiD in short. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, KMZ produced small batches of AEK-971 rifles for use by Russian police SWAT-type units, but the military remained mostly uninterested in this gun.

However, around 2012 the Russian Army initiated the R&D program that sought new and improved assault rifles, with better effectiveness, improved ergonomics and modern sight interfaces. For these trials, known as “Ratnik” (medieval Russian warrior), ZiD submitted severely modified balanced-action rifles, heavily based on the earlier AEK-971 but with redesigned receiver and stock. As said above, those rifles eventually were recommended for adoption by Russian Special Forces, and the final goal of our article is to describe these interesting rifles for western readers. In the course of tests, the A-545 rifle received an official GRAU index of 6P67, and A-762 was designated as 6P68.

It must be noted that while all descriptions below refer primarily to the current A-545 rifle, they’re also applicable to the A-762 as well, which differs only by caliber and type of ammunition used. Differences from earlier the AEK-971 rifles also are mentioned in the text, where applicable.

Assault Rifle Comparison

The A-545 assault rifle has a gas-operated, balanced action with rotating bolt locking. “Balancing” means that the gas system has two co-axial gas pistons. The primary gas piston has annual shape and is linked via the tubular operating rod to the bolt carrier and operates as usual. The second gas piston is linked to a balancing steel weight and moves in the opposite direction to the main gas piston, inside its hollow tubular body. As a result of this setup, the gas tube has a “T” shape, with the gas port located in the middle. Both pistons are synchronized through a simple gear (in early models) or two gears (in current production models). Gears are assembled into a small caret which remains stationary inside the action when the gun is fired, as it forms an integral front part of the return spring guide rod. The synchronous and opposite movement of the balancing weight eliminates all impulses except one generated by projectile and burning powder, so the rifle becomes more stable during full-auto fire and vibrates less.

Production AEK-971 rifles had side-folding plastic buttstocks, plastic forearms and fire control grips, and used standard AK/AKM or AK-74 30-round magazines (depending on the chambering). They also featured safety switch/fire mode selectors of various designs, depending on the year of manufacture and factory. The fire selector normally permitted three modes of fire: single shots, 3-round bursts and full-auto. Inner workings of the gun were accessible through a detachable top cover, made from stamped steel.

The A-545 rifle features numerous internal and external improvements over earlier AEK-971s. These include, among other things, a redesigned receiver with integrated Picatinny rail on the top and hinged pistol grip/trigger unit at the bottom. This rifle is disassembled by removing the rear end-cap from the receiver, swinging the pistol grip down and then pulling out the bolt group with recoil spring and synchronizing gear cart as a single unit. Other features include ambidextrous fire mode selector/safety levers (with positions for safe, single shots, 2-round bursts and full-auto), retractable and adjustable shoulder stock and aperture rear sight. It is interesting to note that early A-545 and A-762 rifles featured HK-style drum rear sights, while later models replaced them with more common types of tangent rear sights.

To achieve the desired weight, a set value under the “Ratnik” program requirements, the A-545 features several parts and subassemblies made from titanium alloys. It also features a diopter-type rear sight; although iron sights are seen now mostly as back-ups for red dot or electronic night sights. The barrel features a quick-removable muzzle brake/compensator which can be replaced with a tactical sound suppressor, optimized for work with standard issue, supersonic ammunition.

According to published information, the A-545 indeed offers less dispersion when firing 2-round bursts, compared to the AK-74M or AK-12. The same is applicable to the A-762 compared to the AKM or AK-15. However, in single shots, conventional Kalashnikov-type rifles proved to be more accurate; although there’s no explanation why. Overall, the Russian press quoted that the A-545 offered 10% more combat effectiveness compared to the AK-12 when used at ranges under 300m. At extended ranges, the AK-12 has a slight edge over the A-545, which is also close to 10%. When seen from outside, the A-545 appears to be more “modern,” with its plastic lower receiver, solid top with integral Picatinny rail and ambidextrous controls.

However, some of its features raise questions when the gun is actually handled. Its “HK-style” retractable stock with relatively small butt-pad, which has to be rotated 180 degrees between a retracted (combat) and fully collapsed (storage) position, is less than ideal and does not offer a good cheek-weld. Its balanced action requires more force to manually cycle the bolt, is noticeably more complicated and requires more meticulous and time-consuming maintenance when compared to AK-type rifles. Other less obvious but inherent set-backs of the balanced system are increased cyclic rate of fire, about 900 to1000 rounds per minute, and a slight loss of the muzzle velocity due to more powder gases used up to cycle dual pistons.

Conclusion

Unlike conventional designs, it is almost impossible to produce short-barreled PDW or CQB-style rifles with balanced action without significant redesign. The final, and probably most important, problem with the A-545 is its cost. It is believed that the initial unit price, quoted by the factory to the Russian Ministry of Defense, is about three to five times higher than the unit price of the new AK-12 in the same caliber. Considering that the A-545 offers only a stated 10% increase of combat effectiveness over 200% to 400% increase in price, it is not hard to see why the A-545 and A-762 were recommended only for relatively small Russian Special Forces.

Specifications

With the onset of World War II, the Swiss Army saw a need for a light tank. They purchased some Panzer 38(t) tanks from Czechoslovakia that were armed with 20mm cannons. The Swiss decided that the armament was not powerful enough, so they chose a cannon that fired the 24x138mm round–the Tb 41. Swiss company Waffenfabrik Bern built the cannon, and its design was overseen by Colonel Adolf Furrer, former director of the arms factory at Bern. Furrer had designed the Leichtes Maschinengewehr Modell 1925 (Lmg 25), a toggle-lock action light machine gun, in the 1920s, and he patterned the Tb 41 after that weapon. The action was sometimes referred to as a “Luger” or “Maxim” action; however, it was quite a bit different. His action consists of three arms, as opposed to the Luger’s two. These arms were interconnected by rotating pivots. Recoil would drive the bolt backwards, folding the arms against the recoil spring. The spring would drive the arms forward, moving the bolt into the breech.

It was later decided that the Tb 41 could be used against light armor and lightly protected trucks, so it was modified for use by the infantry. The infantry weapon was fed by a six-round magazine that inserted on the right side, with ejection on the left. When the sixth round was chambered, the magazine was automatically ejected. When the last round fired, the bolt locked open so that a fresh magazine could be immediately inserted. Some Tb 41 guns were installed on tanks, and the gun was rotated 90 degrees so it could be fed from the top. Some were mounted on a tripod and used in fortified positions.

The Tb 41 was designed as a semiautomatic to enable it to put a lot of rounds downrange in a short time. The thinking was that an enemy tank could be disabled if it were hit enough times by the 24mm bullets. As the War progressed, and heavier, better armed tanks were developed, the Tb 41 was relegated to use against light vehicle and armored cars.

It took seven men to operate the Tb 41. Ammo loadout was normally 160 rounds of which 40 were explosive, and the rest were armor-piercing. When used in the field, the gun was transported on a single-axle, wheeled cart by anything from a bicycle to a car. It could even be moved by two soldiers if the need arose. The wheeled cart could be turned into a mount by removing the wheels and rotating the axles into an upright position.

It was possible to remove the gun from its mount and fire it simply by laying it on the ground. This author imagines recoil was somewhat interesting. It did have a rather sophisticated muzzle brake that consisted of eight rings held in a sleeve. Five of the rings had grooves to direct the combustion gas out to the side and rear. The remaining three rings had no gas grooves. By changing the rings, recoil and weapon function could be altered.

Sights were either iron sights similar to the ones found on a Schmidt–Rubin rifle or a 2.2x periscope-shaped optic. The range was said to be up to 1500 yards, but 300 yards is much more likely. Two types of ammunition were available: the armor-piercing Pz-G.V. and the explosive St-G.

The Tankbüchse 41 was the Swiss Army’s first mass anti-tank weapon; although the Tb 41 was never used in combat. Technically, the Tankbüchse 41 was an intermediate anti-tank weapon, but it was not an actual full-on, anti-tank cannon.

24x138mm, Ammunition

The armor-piercing 24mm Pz-G.V. and explosive St-G were created for the new anti-tank rifle. Both of these shells weighed 225g (3,500 grains); the full rounds weighed 460g and were 210mm long. The first shell was painted gray, and the second shell was painted yellow. The explosive shell was equipped with an impact fuse. There was also a training 24mm U-G shell, which weighed 225g and had a delayed fuse and a smaller load of explosives. The training shell was painted black. The velocity was 2,900 fps, and the shell could penetrate 30mm of armor plate at 200m and a 30-degree impact angle.

What makes Nammo different from other military cartridge producers is that we focus on specialty ammunition. While giant factories like Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) in Independence, MO (U.S.), turn out millions of general-purpose rounds, Nammo concentrates on products that can defeat armor, incapacitate air and ground vehicles, lighten the load and make training more effective.

Nammo is a relative newcomer but with a long legacy. The company started in 1998 by combining military ammunition businesses in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Originally short for “Nordic Ammunition Company,” it today includes factories that have been building bullets, charges and cartridges for hundreds of years. In the 21 years since its founding, Nammo has grown to include factories in Germany, Spain and the U.S. Today Nammo has operations at six locations in the U.S., including: Mesa, AZ; Columbus, MS; Salt Lake City, Utah; Scranton and Moscow, PA; and most recently in Bay St. Louis, MS, following the acquisition of polymer cartridge manufacturer MAC LLC, today owned 55% by Nammo.

Combat Effective Ammunition

One of the key products Nammo delivers to the U.S. Military is 5.56mm and 7.62mm Armor Piercing Ammunition. These rounds feature Tungsten carbide (WC) penetrators that punch through light steel armor plate and virtually all building materials—even reinforced concrete. The M995 (5.56mm) round is compatible with standard weapons such as the M16/M4 family of rifles and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) system. The M995 can penetrate armor up to ½-inch thick including “improvised armor” attached to commercial vehicles—think pick-up trucks with steel plates covering the doors. Similarly, the M993 (7.62mm) can be used with the M240 machine gun, M134 Gatling gun, all varieties of 7.62mm marksman and sniper rifles and the SCAR-heavy. The M993 can penetrate up to ¾ inch of RHA at 100m and can stop a vehicle with shots to the engine block.

Nammo also makes .338 diameter AP projectiles and ammunition under the Lapua brand. These rounds are generally intended for anti-materiel purposes. High value targets such as RADARS, communications vehicles and data systems are no match for a .338 Lapua Magnum or .338 Norma Magnum round fired from almost a mile away.

In the 1980s, Nammo’s predecessor company, Raufoss Ammunition, developed the MK211 .50 caliber round by scaling down a 20mm Multipurpose Aircraft cartridge. Known ever since as the “Raufoss round,” it maximizes the effectiveness of a .50 cal sniper system, an M2HB or its cousins, the M3, GAU-19 and GAU-21. This is the round that keeps armored personnel carrier drivers and passengers up at night. The Multipurpose technology includes a Tungsten carbide penetrator combined with an incendiary compound and a high explosive.

When the projectile strikes a target, the impact energy ignites the incendiary—part of which acts as a fuzed delay for the high explosive. In the meantime, the Tungsten carbide penetrator punches through the armor making a hole where the blast, blast fragments and incendiary join armor spall to create an “extreme effect” on the other side.

The current version of the Raufoss round will penetrate 22mm (0.86 inch) of armor plate at 200m (~220 yards) and will punch through multiple layers of brick and adobe, not to mention lighter materials like wood. Because of its unique construction, tight tolerances, rearward center of gravity and the concentration of mass near the axial centerline, MP rounds are extremely accurate when used in .50 cal sniper systems.

Training and Low-Collateral Damage Cartridges

Several training scenarios require a different style of ammunition to preserve training ranges, limit surface danger zones or protect the shooter.

First are situations where the range (including the size of the Surface Danger Zone, or SDZ) is necessarily small. This can occur when a training range is needed close to a base, when the local population is encroaching on an existing base or when the total size of the ranges is fixed, but more smaller “sub ranges” would allow more individuals and units to train at once. For these situations, Nammo makes Reduced Range (RR/RR-T) ammunition. These cartridges, available as ball and tracer, allow for realistic weapon firing for a few hundred meters (7.62mm) or up to 1500m for .50cal but with a total danger zone that is less than half of that for a standard round. Nammo’s solution uses spin dampening “flutes” at the front of a lighter-weight projectile with a “non-boat-tail” rear. This allows the projectile to start out like a regular round but with a lower ballistic coefficient (BC) and a fast-decaying spin rate; once it passes the training target it soon slows and hits the ground. In addition to use in training, these rounds have been used in combat situations where civilians are near the combat zone or when delicate or expensive equipment is nearby—think ship defense when in port.

Another situation where a less destructive, shorter-range round is needed is close combat training—especially in shoot houses. It is important the ammunition enables realistic training but with little damage to the training structure and a reduced risk of injury/death of the participants who are working in close quarters. For these scenarios, Nammo makes Plastic Short Range Training Ammunition (PSRTA). The body of these cartridges and the plastic projectile are made in one piece. Upon firing, the plastic bullet separates from the case and accelerates down the barrel. These rounds are still lethal at very close range, but when fired from at least a meter away, they don’t penetrate shoot house building materials and the ricochets have a low probability of causing a serious injury (but please, keep your safety glasses in place).

Recent Developments

Nammo continually asks, “What do warfighters need to do their job better?” With the U.S. military’s experiences since 2003, two specific requests top the list: lower weight and reduced signature.

Lower Weight

An ammunition cartridge has four components: a bullet, smokeless powder, a primer and a cartridge case. Carrying ammunition in bulk is expensive and heavy. The weight of the ammunition alone is a significant part of the more than 75 pounds an infantryman is typically asked to carry. Both the powder and the bullet are more effective in proportion to their mass. That is, in general, a bigger projectile going faster is better. The primer doesn’t have much mass, so that leaves the cartridge case—a part of the system that just “sits there.” Its job is to provide a container for the bullet, powder and primer and to provide a seal against the gasses inside leaking out of the weapon breech. As long as the case can still function reliably, lighter is better.

As it happens, brass is a very special material. When it is worked it becomes very hard, but when annealed by heat it becomes soft and ductile. That is just what a cartridge case needs—a material that is hard where the primer is installed and the case is extracted, but soft to hold and then release the bullet. The Nammo/MAC polymer case incorporates a conventional hardened brass head with a polymer case body that seals the high pressures and grips the projectile.

Currently, special units and the U.S. Marine Corps have procured .50 caliber MAC polymer, lightweight-cased cartridges, and the U.S. Army is working on 7.62mm cases. The concept has been demonstrated for 5.56mm, intermediate calibers, .300 Blackout and even some medium caliber (30mmx173) ammunition.

In addition to the weight lost in the case, Nammo has developed a lightweight .50-caliber polymer disintegrating link to replace the M9 steel/phosphate-coated link. The lightweight link reduces the system weight by around 6.5 percent, reduces loads (due to weight) on the weapon and eliminates weapon wear caused by the steel-to-steel scratches. Bonus: a polymer link does not ever rust like a steel M9 link does once the phosphate coating is compromised.

Reduced Signature Ammunition

Nammo is a leader in reduced signature ammunition and has developed dim tracer, or IR (infrared) tracer, in all NATO calibers. Dim tracers are only seen through night vision devices (NVDs), a technology that was perfect for the asymmetric warfare of the last two decades. We could see them, but they could not see us. IR tracers are also excellent for use by gunners behind .50 caliber machine guns at night, since normal tracers can blind gunners using NVDs.

To help maintain the advantage, Nammo has been involved with the U.S. Army in developing One-Way Luminescence (“OWL”) tracers that trace in the visible spectrum but limit the angle at which the tracer can be seen—meaning from behind or side. This technology, when perfected, will allow friendly troops to see where the tracers go but will not allow the enemy to see where the rounds came from—even if they are a near-peer adversary with NVDs.

Similarly, Nammo has been involved in work to eliminate “muzzle flash” for tracers. Muzzle flash is the bright light caused by burning material outside of the gun barrel after the bullet exits the muzzle end of the weapon. Such flashes make it very easy for the enemy to see the shooter’s location. The flash can be created by the way smokeless powder burns and creates oxygen-starved intermediate combustion products. Those hot intermediate products ignite when the oxygen in the air becomes available outside of the barrel. Most of this kind of flash has been eliminated by improved propellants that burn more completely inside the weapon. An additional source of flash, though, is due to a small amount of tracer material that is broken off of the bullet before it leaves the barrel. The bullet experiences high shock loads, high gas pressure and violent burning on its surface which can cause small chunks to break off. Nammo has improved the tracer manufacturing process to eliminate the flashes so that now machine gunners who are otherwise hidden are virtually invisible.

Specialty Ammunition

It is fitting that the first ammunition product produced by any of Nammo’s current factories was percussion caps, starting as early as 1828 in Germany. Replacing the venerable flintlocks, percussion cap rifles gave a significant advantage on the battlefield through dramatically improved reliability in all weather conditions. While technology certainly has changed since then, Nammo’s mission remains the same—to provide a reliable advantage to the U.S. and its allies by delivering advanced specialty ammunition and tools essential to properly train the modern warfighter, today, tomorrow and in the future.